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Somewhere around 30 I absolutely lost control of my health and became outright delusional about it. I was reasonably fit through college and always saw myself as looking like that. However, I’d suck in my gut as people passed by me so on some level, I knew I’d changed. I weighed 180 in high school and at last check, I weighed about 210 at age 28. Gaining 30 lbs in 10 years after high school was just “normal”, right?

In 2001, I started having a series of wake-up calls starting with my father having a mild heart attack. His being 60 lbs overweight was cited as the main factor. In 2002, my cousin of the same age (32) died from cancer. His mom (my mother’s sister) died from cancer 7 years earlier.

In 2003, I was diagnosed with cancer. An operation and a little radiation later and I’m back to my old self. I did start to eat more “anti-cancer” foods. As if eating more was something I really needed to do. Other than the genetic pre-disposition, I still viewed myself as pretty much in shape.

Early Spring 2004, my mother sent me a picture she took at my son’s birthday party the previous summer. It was the profile shot that changed my life. I finally got to see what everybody else actually saw. There was my gut hanging over my belt. In disbelief, I said my wife, “Wow! Look how big I was.” She replied, “What do you mean WAS?”

Then it hit me. When my mother took that picture, not only was I grossly overweight, I had cancer and was completely unaware of it. What else could be happening to me that I was completely unaware of? I stepped on a scale. 240. I was now at least 60 lbs overweight, 25 years before my dad hit that mark.

I tried Atkins, but I’d fall off the wagon in a couple days. Tried it like three times, but couldn’t give up carbs. I’d go to the Y once per week and workout like a maniac for about an hour. Okay, half hour, but I’d sweat a lot and look real serious about it. I’d hurt my joints so much it took me the rest of the week to recover. I’d had another gym membership for 3 years already. For my $30 per month I’d only made it there 3 times because it was inconvenient and when I did get there, I really didn’t know what I was doing. It pains me to think of what I spent for zero results.

After about two months of torturing myself at the Y, I happened to see the Slim-in-6 infomercial. Like everybody, I’d heard diet and exercise was the answer, but I wasn’t an expert and I had too much selfish pride to outwardly seek experts. So ordering an exercise program that I could study and do in the privacy of my own home would be good. Also, one of the testimonials was from a police officer that lived only 25 miles away. Figured I could look him up for answers if need be.

I went to the Million Dollar Body website to do my last minute research. I picked Power 90 because it looked more like it was geared to building muscle than just losing weight and that’s what I was hoping for. Remember, it was ultimately vanity that drove me to do something.

When the DVDs came in, I decided on a day to start. It had to be first thing in the morning or I’d never get to it. I began to follow the eating advice right away. There was a lot of eating advice. By just changing my eating habits, I had already lost 6 pounds before doing a single workout.

When I got into the routines, I was losing 4-6 pounds per week for the first 4 weeks! I think I was sleeping on my feet through the warm-ups most mornings, but I showed up on time to push play. The only discipline I needed was to make it to my living room on time.

I finally moved up to the 3-4 routines on day 50. The 33 pounds I had already lost didn’t matter nearly as much as the shape I was beginning to take. In particular, the upper lats, where they fill in between the shoulders and neck. Where did those come from? My muscles were alive and changing disks was like shifting gears.

By day 90, I had lost 50 pounds and felt absolutely incredible. In fact, I signed up for and ran a 5K race without doing any run training. Just showed up and ran. At 34, I came in 4th behind a couple of twenty-somethings and a 14 year-old distance runner.

I was still a bit of a coward about moving on to P90X so I continued through another round of Power 90. I vividly remember on day 110 realizing that my chest no longer bounced while hopping. I was SOLID! Soon after, I decided I had to take it to the next level. My P90X material arrived the week of Thanksgiving, 2004 with a lot more detailed eating advice. Like before, I started the eating advice right away. That advice actually directed me to eat more in a specific way.

I actually lost 7 pounds the week of Thanksgiving by eating more! I began the P90X workouts January 2nd, 2005. MAN, were they tough and I LOVED IT! Through the Message Boards, I jumped on a challenge and made a bunch of new friends that really helped each other. I now string challenges and haunt the message boards daily. I had gone from squeezing my 38-inch waist in to 36-inch pants (denial) to wearing 30-inch pants comfortably! 31% body fat, down to just less than 8% body fat.

April 15,2004, I traveled to Chicago to meet a bunch of the Million Dollar Body faithful, Tony Horton himself, and even Mark Briggs, the guy from the infomercial, who I became friends with on the Message Boards without even realizing that’s who he was. I was a full 70 pounds lighter (240 to 170) than I was a year before.

It’s now three years later and I’ve run three 5Ks, completed three rounds of P90X, been to two camps, met Tony Horton 4 times, and most importantly, have been cancer-free for 4 years. I am now extremely aware and in control of my own health. I’ve subsequently lost another relative to cancer, but I know that if I ever have to face it again, I’ll be ready. I’m able to maintain my level of fitness through good habits and set a positive example for my kids.